To Save Him
by musicandlove
Summary: Hermione is being hurt by someone, and the only one who knows about it is Severus. He must find a way to help her. Maybe SS/HG in the future, not decided on that yet... STRONG M!
1. Broken

**A/N**: This is my first story that I have written and published to this site, ever! So, please be gentle,

although constructive criticism is, of course, encouraged. Also, anything in italics is Hermione's

thoughts.

**Broken**

Hermione walked back to the her dorm room in Gryffindor Tower in a confused daze, not entirely grasping what had just happened to her. She arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, muttered the password, and walked to her personal bathroom that she was given when she became head girl.

She stripped off her muddy, bloody clothes and stepped into the shower; the water was so hot that it seared her skin, leaving it with red, angry marks as the water trailed down her body (_A body that will never be clean, no matter how much soap and water was used to scrub it). _After standing in the shower for an indiscernible amount of time, she grabbed her pajamas, crawled into bed, and cried; sleep would not come to comfort her on this night.

He sat in his room after she had left, smiling to himself, replaying the events of tonight in his mind with a sadistic smile on his face. He would highly enjoy his new... affair of sorts that he had developed with one Hermione Granger.

After he was finished cleaning up for bed, he crawled under his covers, and slipped into a deep sleep filled with dreams of what their next session would bring.

The next morning, Hermione rolled out of bed after a sleepless night and dressed for the day. It wouldn't due to have Harry and Ron ask questions about her tired and ragged appearance, so she put a glamour charm on her face, making her appear to be healthy and glowing, when in reality she had bags under her eyes and she looked like she had come down with the flu.

Hermione arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast and sat next to Harry, grabbing a plate and filling it, although the smell of the food was nauseating. She stared down at her food, playing with it rather than eating, although Harry and Ron were so absorbed with the discussion of their next quidditch match to give Hermione's strange behavior a second thought. After breakfast, they walked down to the dungeons for their Potions lesson.

Severus sat at his desk, waiting for his seventh years to arrive for the potions lesson. He stood and began to write the ingredients for the days potion on the chalkboard when the students began to file into the room. He sat back at his desk when he was finished, and the last of them took their seats.

"The ingredients are listed on the board, turn to page 275 of your text for the procedure to brew the potion. You may begin." Severus drawled in a bored sort of way, and sat down to grade essays.

The class went along smoothly for the first 20 minutes or so, and then Severus rose from his desk and began to walk around the room, looking over everyone's shoulder to check their work. When he came to Hermione, not really expecting to need to give direction, he noticed something odd – her shoulders we shaking as though she was crying, and tears were dripping onto her text. Severus rolled his eyes and continued on; he was certainly not in the business of consoling teenage girls who were having boy troubles, or other frivolous problems.

Just as Severus returned to the front of the room, he heard a loud crash behind him; he turned to see Hermione laying in a heap on the floor, her cauldron laying next to her, its contents spilled all over the ground.

Severus swiftly walked to her side, "Continue working", he called to the rest of the class, as he lifted Hermione and began to carry her to the infirmary. He rushed through the halls, holding an unconscious Hermione, when suddenly she began to stir. Before she even opened her eyes, she begin to scream, and flung herself from Severus's grasp. She lay on the ground silently for a few moments, when Severus reached out to grab her again.

"Don't touch me!", she screamed, frantically crawling away from Severus. "Please, don't hurt me!", she cried. Severus realized that whatever had been troubling Hermione was much more serious than the "boy troubles" he initially believed to be the problem.

**A/N:** I hoped you like the first chapter. Review, review, review!


	2. Hidden Sorrow

**A/N: **Wow, I suck. I cannot justify whyit took so long to update. So sorry! Please don't give up, I'll try to start updating more regularly now. On with the story!

Also, this does not necessarily going to comply with the books, obviously, but I mean in terms of major events.

**Hidden Sorrow**

"Miss Granger, I am not going to hurt you. Please tell me what is wrong." Severus said, his instincts as a teacher taking over. As uncomfortable as he felt with dealing with a crying young girl, he had to help her, as it seemed that whatever was troubling her was not the usual issues his female students seemed to find themselves with.

"Nothing!", she screamed out, but the look in her eyes, and the way she trembled all over said otherwise.

"Miss Granger, please. I know that there is something going on here, and it is my duty, as a professor at this school, to help a student in need. And it is very obvious to me that you are in some sort of distress."

"I don't know what you are talking about! I am fine. I just felt lightheaded in class. I haven't eaten a proper breakfast yet, that is all", and with that, she turned on her heel and made to walk in the direction of Gryffindor tower.

For a moment, Severus wasn't sure if he should go after her, or let her walk away. Deciding it wasn't good to let her walk away after that, but would also not help to force her to stay, when obviously she was not willing to open up to him.

"I understand that I may not be the teacher you would feel most comfortable to confide in", he started, "and if you aren't willing to talk to me, I understand. If something _is _going on, I just hope that you would talk to somebody about it, be it me, or perhaps your head of house. The teachers at this school will always help a student in need."

With that, he allowed her to leave. She walked away from him as calmly as she could manage, and as soon as she rounded the corner away from him, she bolted into a dead run to Gryffindor tower, not stopping until she reached her dorm, which was empty, since all of the other 6th year girls were in classes.

She threw herself, face down on her bed, and sobbed. _The teachers at this school will always help a student in need_, she thought bitterly. _That is rich._ She continued to cry until she fell asleep, not waking until it was time for dinner.

Feeling a slight pang of hunger, as she had not eaten a proper meal since yesterday, she got up from her bed, her robes a crinkled mess, and went down to the Great Hall for dinner.

When she reached the Gryffindor table, she sat beside Harry and Ron, who were too engrossed in conversation to acknowledge her arrival. That was better, anyway, since she didn't feel much like conversation.

She piled some food on her plate, not really feeling hunger anymore, but forcing herself to eat anyway. As she ate, she could feel eyes burning into her back. She turned, looked at the head table, and realized whose eyes were boring into her. _His_ eyes. He gave her a smirk when he saw her look at him, obvious glee in his eyes.

Suddenly feeling the urge to vomit, she excused herself without a word, and returned to Gryffindor tower.

Severus sat at the head table, eating his dinner in silence. When Hermione Granger entered, he couldn't help but look at her, pondering the events that had unfolded earlier today. It was obvious that something had changed about his student, the brightest witch of her age. It was also obvious that she was trying to keep whatever this was a secret.

He watched her pile some food on her plate, then take only a few bites and stop, her back tensing, and looked down at his plate, not wanting to be caught staring at her. When he finally did look up again, he saw her just as she was exiting the Great Hall, seeming to be in a rush.

He didn't know what was happening to her, but he knew that it was not good.

**A/N:** Hope you like the new chapter! I am sort of just letting this story unfold as I write it, so I am not 100% sure where this story is going to go, although I do have a general idea. One thing I have not decided is whether or not Severus and Hermione she end up being romantically involved. Please let me know what you think in the reviews!


	3. In Keeping Secrets

**A/N:** Sorry that my chapters are so short, but that is the only way I will be able to update regularly. I get my inspirations in short bursts, I guess.

**In Keeping Secrets**

That morning, Hermione laid in bed, wide awake, having endured a sleepless night. She could take it no longer, and crawled out of bed, long before the other girls awoke, her movements mirroring that of an old woman.

She walked slowly to the bathroom, feeling like she needed a shower, even though she had taken one the night before. She had seen _him _again last night, and she felt as though she may never be clean.

She turned the water on, scolding hot, and got in. The water stung her body, but she needed it. She began scrubbing her body, chafing her skin, trying to scrub his hands from her body, ignoring the bruises that had formed on her wrists and on the inside of her thighs.

Finally she got out of the shower, her body red from the water, and got back into bed. She did not feel like going to breakfast, she would rather lay in her bed under the covers for the rest of eternity.

Severus sat at the desk in his classroom, waiting for the 6th year Gryffindor and Slytherins to come for their afternoon potions lesson. He began to write out his lesson plan as the students filed in and took their seats. When everyone was seated, he began explaining to them how to make the potion, but his eyes could not leave Hermione Granger.

"You have one hour, you may begin", he said, and sat back at his desk, and began to grade essays, but he could not stop looking up at Hermione. Her face was pale, and her hands were shaking. Her shaking hands was what drew his attention to the bruises that circled around her wrists, which looked rather fresh.

He went back to his essays, his mind still on Hermione Granger. He looked back at her to see her sitting with her back hunched, and she had rings under his eyes. He noticed that she had dark bruises showing just beneath the hem of her skirt, on her inner thighs. His breathing hitched, for he knew how one got bruises like that. This situation with Miss Granger must be much more serious than he had originally thought.

That night, Hermione sat in the Great Hall, picking at yet another meal, her stomach turning at the sight of food. She sat across from Harry and Ron, who were chatting rather animatedly, but she was not listening to what they had to say.

"Hello, are you in there, Hermione?", Harry said, causing her to look up from her plate. Both of her friends were looking at her, with concern in their eyes.

"What is going on with you, Hermione? You do not look well at all", Ron said.

"I think I might be coming down with something, maybe the flu. I just haven't felt right lately", she said, trying to push off their questions.

"In fact, I think that I will go back to my dorm and lay down, I don't think I can eat another bite. I probably just need to rest.", With that, she got up and left the Great Hall, trying to ignore the look of concern from Harry and Ron, which burned into her back as she walked through the doors of the Great Hall. Maybe if she just rested, she would feel better in the morning.

**A/N: **Review, Review, Review! In the next chapter, the identity of who is hurting Hermione will be revealed!


	4. Secrets Revealed

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, but this chapter is going to reveal some pretty big plot points! This chapter is going to by longer than the others, as well, so hopefully worth the wait! WARNING, NON-CONSENSUAL SEX IN THIS CHAPTER, SO BEWARE!

**Secrets Revealed**

The next morning, Hermione woke feeling sick. Today was the day. She had no choice but to face _him. _She'd have to just try to play it as cool as she possibly could.

She walked slowly to the Great Hall, hoping that breakfast would help her to feel a little better. When she arrived, she took her place with Ron and Harry, and filled her plate with some food.

"Isn't it wonderful that Professor Lupin was asked back to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year?", Ron chimed in as they ate.

"It is wicked. I am sick of getting stuck with total nut cases as Professors for DADA", Harry said. Hermione slowly chewed her toast, not saying anything. DADA would be their first lesson today.

They ate the rest of their breakfast in relative silence, Hermione feeling as though Harry and Ron were concerned about her, but not saying a word.

The trio got up, gathered their books, and headed for the DADA classroom, Hermione feeling her stomach turn. They took their seats, waiting for Lupin to enter and begin the lesson for the day.

"Today we will be discussing defensive spells to protect yourselves from Vampires", Lupin began the lesson. Hermione sat, not paying much attention to the lesson, as she had already read this chapter in the textbook, and already knew everything he was lecturing on.

She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and looked up to see Lupin's eyes linger on her. Quickly, she averted her eyes, looking back to her textbook, which lay open before her.

The lecture went on for the remainder of their class time, and then it was finally time to be dismissed.

"Miss Granger", Lupin called as the class began shuffling their things together to leave, "Can you please stay back to discuss the essay you turned in to me yesterday?"

Hermione tensed, and sat back down. Harry and Ron quickly said they needed to leave, or they'd be late for their next class, and that they would explain why Hermione was late.

The class filed out, and Hermione was alone with Lupin. She stood and approached her desk, gazing down at the floor.

"You wanted to discuss my essay, Professor?", Hermione said, her voice shaking.

"Yes, Miss Granger, I found it to be rather... unsatisfactory", he said, then stood, walked over to the classroom door, and warded it so nobody could enter, then walked back over to Hermione.

"Now, what are we going to do about that?", he questioned, mockingly, while brushing a strand of hair from her face, causing her to jerk back.

"Now, now, what is the matter?", he laughed, turning so he was standing directly in front of her. Slowly he moved closer to her, until their bodies were touching.

"Please... don't do this", she said quietly.

"Just relax", he said, pressing his lips to hers, while she whimpered against his mouth. He grabbed her hips then, and roughly picked her up and sat her down on his desk, his kisses becoming rough and hot against her mouth.

He pushed her back onto the desk so that she was laying across it, then held both of her slender wrists in one hand above her head. With his other hand, he raised her skirt, moved her panties aside, and entered her quickly.

Hermione felt as though she would die of shame as she lay there, and tried to act as though what was happening to her wasn't real. This was just a dream. The bruises that would be left on her thighs after this encounter would remind her just how real it had been, though.

When he finished, he pulled out from her, and stepped away from her shivering frame.

"Well, I think I am much more satisfied with that essay now that we have had a chance to discuss it. You are dismissed, Miss Granger", he said with a smirk.

She stood, straightened out her skirt, and wiped the tears from her eyes. As she walked away, he smacked her bottom and chuckled. She rushed to the door, flew out of the door, and ran as fast a she could to her dorms, not caring who saw her in the process.

What she didn't realize was that Severus had been on his way to see Lupin to discuss when he would be needing more Wolfsbane potion, when she saw her, looking disheveled and distraught, rushing from his classroom. Now _this _definitely would give him some thinking to do.

**A/N:** Now you know! It is Lupin, and he is completely evil! What will Severus do? Leave me reviews and let me know what you think about this new development!


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